A study investigated how Accelerated Learning (AL), a teaching methodology that purports to increase the quantity and improve the quality of learning, affected tertiary students' knowledge of and skills in writing and their feelings towards writing. AL has its origins in G. Lozanov's "suggestopedia." Believing that formal teaching…

A study describes a program for improving the quality and variety of students' writing. The targeted population consisted of elementary and special education high school students in suburban communities north of Chicago, Illinois. The problems were documented through the collection of writing samples, teacher observation, student self-evaluation,…

A study examined whether the familiarity and competence that many African American students have with elements of rap music and culture could be used as a bridge to the production of other literate texts. Two high-school English teachers, one teaching at Fremont High School, East Oakland and the other teaching at Berkeley High School in Berkeley,…

Debates as to the critical element in the writing process have usually taken sides as to either the preeminence of the writer or the essential nature of the text. Throughout two separate studies into the instruction of creative writing genres, the key element in every teaching situation is, instead of writer or text, the creation of a tangible…

A study examined the effectiveness of showcase writing portfolios, a 9-week intervention strategy to improve 18 first-grade students' writing. Students (who were from Roseville, Michigan) selected most of the entries in their "showcase" portfolios. Subjects' writing was assessed on three measures: the quality of writing was assessed…

An interim study measured changes in attitudes towards writing and the writing process among basic writing students taught in an electronic classroom (consisting of 25 networked computers). Students in six sections of basic writing which used the electronic classroom for at least 50% of their classroom time, and six control sections which did not…

A study investigated whether there would be any significant difference in test scores between students instructed in the use of graphic organizers during their creative writings and those students not instructed in their use. Graphic organizers can help writers keep to the topic by having their ideas in front of them as they are writing. They also…

Research efforts in the area of metaphor have concentrated on its natural occurrence in children's language, its role in comprehension processes, and the cognitive developmental stages influencing children's interpretations of metaphor. A study considered the influence of instruction in metaphor on the revising processes of third- and…

A study investigated the ways male and female fifth-grade writers compose short, open-ended autobiographical narratives. The research focused on whether students composed narratives reproducing society's prescription of reality according to gender roles, or whether they found their own voices, writing as autonomous writers representing their own…

Conducted at a public university that had long been overwhelmingly Anglo despite being located in a state noted for its linguistic and cultural diversity, an ethnographic study examined one adjunct writing program and the varied students it serves. Data sources were both numerous and varied--data were collected concurrently at the campus level and…

Although the freshman research paper is the most institutionalized single writing assignment in the academy, the body of knowledge about it is neither extensive nor reflective. This paper explores the complex processes involved in a freshman writing student's inquiry and composing processes as he/she enacts a research assignment. It asks how a…

The personal journal is a combination of class notebook and diary, a repository of entries which are recorded on a regular basis, are ungraded, and which remain confidential. As an instructional tool, the journal is virtually limitless. Studies have demonstrated the practical applications of journal writing for educators in the following areas:…

A study examined two high school English teachers' explorations of portfolio assessment and the effect of these explorations on their teaching and on students' understandings of their own learning and knowledge. The teachers (one with 28 years of experience, the other with 3 years teaching experience) taught at a public city school with an…

An action research project developed a program for improving writing skills. The targeted population consisted of second through fifth grade students in two districts in growing middle to upper class communities, located in suburbs southwest of Chicago. The need for improving writing skills was evidenced by classroom teacher observations,…

A major tenet of feminist rhetorical theory is that there exists a "women's way" of writing. At the same time, much writing deals with the strong shift in the relationship between theory and practice in the fields of literature, composition, and cultural rhetoric. A study examined the intersection of genre and gender theory with the…